Plan

Early morning, Lin Family Back Mountain.

Before a steep cliff, Lin Chen's Spiritual Power spread out from his Mud Pill Palace. After sweeping his gaze around, he lightly tapped off with his toes and leaped down along several protruding rocks on the cliff face.

These rocks were inconspicuous, but under Lin Chen's perception, they happened to form a hidden path for him to traverse.

After following this hidden path for several minutes, a cave concealed beneath several enormous boulders appeared before Lin Chen.

The cave was exceptionally well hidden. With the surrounding protruding boulders concealing it, an ordinary person would never notice it without deliberately searching for it. This was precisely the cave Lin Chen had detected with his Spiritual Power two days ago.

The Ancestral Stone, ranked second on the Tianxuan Continent's Divine Artifact Ranking—the Stone Talisman—was hidden here.

"This is quite a good place to cultivate."

After leaping into the cave, a cool, tranquil sensation washed over him, prompting Lin Chen to mutter softly.

The next moment, Lin Chen's gaze locked firmly onto the stone pool at the center of the cave.

The pool was roughly two or three zhang wide, filled with crystal-clear water. Strands of cold air drifted slowly above its surface.

On the cave ceiling directly above the stone pool, a faint bright gleam could barely be seen.

"The Ancestral Stone is embedded in the cave ceiling above this pool. Unfortunately, the Ancestral Symbol Affinity of this world is far too ethereal. Whether I can ultimately gain the Ancestral Stone's recognition will likely take a long time to prove..."

After watching the stone pool for a moment, Lin Chen raised his head and murmured. Then he activated his Spiritual Power, floated into the air, and reached out with his hand toward the spot on the cave ceiling that emitted the bright glow.

"Neither stone nor stone, neither jade nor jade, neither wood nor wood."

"With these gentle ripples that calm the heart, it must be the Stone Talisman."

Looking at the stone in his hand, a smile surfaced on Lin Chen's fair, handsome face.

Resting in Lin Chen's palm was a stone the size of two fingers. It was a faint grayish-white, yet the sensation from his palm was one of strange softness.

"Unfortunately, it is an Ancestral Stone that has suffered severe damage. The Spirit of the Ancestral Stone is asleep, and many of its abilities cannot be used properly. Forget it. The urgent matter is to awaken Little Marten's demonic spirit first."

Flame City, one of the three major cities of Tiandu Commandery in the Great Yan Dynasty.

Though its prosperity and grandeur could not compare to Tiandu Commandery's commandery city, it was still one of the foremost large cities within several thousand li. It was bustling with people and was the largest city closest to Qingyang Town, only several hundred li away.

"Wan Jin Merchant Guild... I hope this trip yields something."

Riding the fine horse the Lin Family had prepared for him through Flame City's ceaselessly flowing streets, Lin Chen asked several passersby for directions before heading directly to the Wan Jin Merchant Guild in Flame City. Looking up at the large characters on the gatehouse ahead, he murmured inwardly.

"To enter the Wan Jin Auction House, young master, please dismount and proceed on foot. The entrance fee is ten Yang Yuan Stones!"

While Lin Chen was slightly distracted, someone from the Wan Jin Merchant Guild led his horse away and spoke with a smile.

Lin Chen did not hesitate. After paying one Yang Yuan Pill, he followed the crowd that had long been arranged by the Wan Jin Merchant Guild and slowly entered the Wan Jin Auction House.

After obtaining the Stone Talisman, Lin Chen had not blindly poured his Origin Energy into it to replenish its power. Instead, he rested and recuperated for several days before arriving in Flame City to attend the Wan Jin Auction.

Whether he could quickly obtain the Fire Ancestor Demonic Flower beneath Ironwood Manor depended on how fast the Lin Family could mine the Yang Yuan Stone Vein. Lin Chen naturally had no intention of merely waiting around—not because he was impatient, but because he did not want to waste time.

This time, his purpose in coming to Flame City was to purchase and bid on high-grade spiritual herbs comparable to the Fire Ancestor Demonic Flower from Flame City's Wan Jin Merchant Guild, thereby awakening the slumbering Little Marten within the Stone Talisman.

Although it would be difficult to acquire spiritual herbs of the sixth grade and above in a small place like Flame City, it was still far better than sitting around and waiting at the Lin Family.

Besides that, he was also quite interested in the Pill Immortal Pool that the Wan Jin Merchant Guild and Blood Wolf Gang of Flame City would discover in the future.

If he could find it before those two factions did and enter it first, it would be immensely beneficial whether for cultivating his Origin Energy, solidifying his foundation, or for Little Marten within the Stone Talisman.

Once he condensed a Nine-Star Core and stabilized his core foundation, his strength would rapidly undergo a transformation within a few years.

Lin Chen had absolute confidence in the rapid growth of his strength. Over the years, through reading the Lin Clan's extremely limited collection of ancient texts and comparing them with some cultivation insights from members of the Lin Clan, he had gradually discovered certain peculiarities about his body.

Unlike his pure soul, his muscles, bones, and bloodline had all been formed from the heaven and earth origin energy of the Tianxuan Continent, giving him perfect affinity with the Tianxuan Continent itself.

As a result, his speed of absorbing heaven and earth origin energy was terrifying. If he had not deliberately suppressed himself since beginning cultivation in order to condense a high-quality core, and thus rarely cultivated Origin Energy, his Origin Energy cultivation would likely have already surpassed his Spiritual Power and reached the minor mastery stage of the Form Creation Realm.

The Three Creation Realms were within his grasp.

As for why his constitution differed from ordinary people, why he was so compatible with this world, why he had no cultivation bottlenecks, and why his Origin Energy cultivation speed was so terrifying—aside from his admittedly decent luck, he would never believe that the will of the Great Thousand World had nothing to do with it.

If that were not the case, why would his speed of absorbing heaven and earth origin energy differ from ordinary people? And was that not also why he had broken through the Earth Origin and Heavenly Origin Realms without any bottlenecks?

Although this was merely Lin Chen's speculation, with his vast worldview, it was the only explanation he could think of that fit his circumstances.

And now that he had obtained the Stone Talisman, Lin Chen already had a detailed cultivation plan concerning his future.

Although the Great Yan Dynasty did not lack heaven-defying opportunities such as the Ancestral Stone and Ancestral Talisman, it did not possess large quantities of Nirvana Pills and Profound Origin Pills, items essential for his future cultivation.

After reaching the peak of the Creation Realm, without Nirvana Pills, rapidly undergoing nirvana and entering a new realm would be time-consuming and laborious even with his unusual constitution, which allowed him to absorb Nirvana Qi from heaven and earth origin energy.

Waiting for the Hundred Dynasties War ten years later, gathering a large number of Nirvana Pills, laying the foundation for nirvana, and only then entering the Nirvana Realm seemed far too long to him. Achieving nirvana in ten years was an exceedingly ordinary cultivation speed among the countless living beings of the Tianxuan Continent.

It would be better if he could join the Hundred Dynasties War as a disciple of one of the Eastern Profound Region's super sects.

Of course, the prerequisite was that his Spiritual Power reached the level of a Heavenly Symbol Master within a few years. Otherwise, leaving the Great Yan Dynasty, joining one of the Eastern Profound Region's super sects, and obtaining sufficient cultivation resources would be nothing but empty talk.

There were countless dynasties in the Eastern Profound Region and innumerable so-called geniuses. The Great Yan Dynasty was merely a low-grade dynasty. With a background like his, entering those super sects of the Eastern Profound Region without going through the Hundred Dynasties War would not be easy.